As you’ve likely heard by now, Indiana class of 2018 target Darius Garland has committed to play for the Vanderbilt Commodores. First and foremost, congratulations to Garland for choosing a great academic institution and a location that will allow his family to easily attend his games. By all accounts, Garland appears to be a good kid that we would have welcomed and cheered enthusiastically for in Bloomington. We wish him all the best in Nashville and his future endeavors.
So where does that leave Indiana for its 2018 class? Thus far the Hoosiers have signed 4 players and have a Top 20 class:
- Robert Phinisee
- Damezi Anderson
- Jerome Hunter
- Jake Forrester
A fifth newcomer to the class will be Race Thompson, who is already in Bloomington and is intending to redshirt for the 2017-2018 season. The scholarship math says that with the those 5 newcomers, along with 5 departures (Johnson, McSwain, Hartman, Newkirk, and Priller), and 1 open scholarship in 2017-2018 — that there is still 1 open scholarship for 2018-19.
There is little doubt who Indiana would like to fill that last open spot. We previously illustrated the potential 2018-19 roster if both Garland and Romeo Langford signed with Indiana:
- Curtis Jones, 6-4, Junior Guard
- Al Durham Jr., 6-4 Sophomore Guard
- Devonte Green, 6-3 Junior Guard
- Robert Phinisee, 6-0 Freshman Guard
- Romeo Langford, 6-5 Freshman Guard
- Darius Garland, 6-0 Freshman Guard
- Juwan Morgan, 6-8 Senior Forward
- Justin Smith, 6-7 Sophomore Forward
- De’Ron Davis, 6-10 Junior Forward
- Clifton Moore, 6-10 Sophomore Forward
- Race Thompson, 6-8 RS Freshman Forward
- Jerome Hunter, 6-7 Freshman Forward
- Damezi Anderson, 6-6 Freshman Forward
- Jake Forrester, 6-8 Freshman Forward
Inherent in that potential roster was being oversigned by one. Those things tend to work themselves out, but now with Garland going to Vanderbilt the math works out perfectly if Langford (or anyone else for that matter) commits to Indiana. Indiana still has work to do on that front.
Langford narrowed his list of potential schools to 3 — Vanderbilt, Kansas and Indiana. After digesting how Vanderbilt keeps coming up in these conversations, the question then becomes how likely it is that Indiana will successfully sign Langford. Most accounts have Indiana as the front runner, but those predictions have certainly been wrong in the past. We certainly wouldn’t be surprised if part of Langford’s decision making process involves actually observing the Archie Miller led Hoosiers to ensure that stylistically, it is a good fit. In any event, the Hoosiers have one open scholarship, and their top target is still clearly a good possibility.
At the outset we indicated that Darius Garland has the opportunity to attend a great academic institution and play close to his family. Romeo Langford has that same opportunity in Bloomington. Will he take it?
Photo credit – indianasportscoverage.com
